Nottinghamshire FA were put in touch with Red Sea FC in February by The University of Nottingham’s STAR Group (Student Action For Refugees) in hope we would be able to support the club in becoming an affiliated football club and compete in one of Nottinghamshire’s football leagues in the future. Sophie, our disability and inclusion officer has met with Red Sea FC several times and is working with the manager, Ezedin Osman to create a FA Just Play Centre at the club and also working with Nottinghamshire FA’s operations team in affiliating Red Sea FC. Sophie is continuing to work with Red Sea FC and the STAR group to create more opportunities for the football club. This includes providing the club with new footballs, kits and equipment. 

Sophie said "I have been working with Red Sea FC since February and love how committed they are to their players and organising friendlies around the city for their players to compete in. They now want to compete in a league, and I think this is an exciting time for the club, as they will be a Just Play centre and have an affiliated team competing in a league.  Nottinghamshire FA will continue to support them throughout their first season in competitive football and their journey of being a Just Play Centre. Molly McDonald from STAR at the University of Nottingham has been a great help in setting up the initial meeting between Red Sea FC and Nottinghamshire FA. Molly and I have met after the initial meeting to see how we can work in partnership to continue to support the club and help them to develop and grow."

Red Sea Club was founded in Nottingham in 2019 by Ezedin Osman, a national of Eritrea (a country in East Africa) and currently living and working in Nottingham.

Ezedin said "The Red Sea Club was set up with the aim of bringing together sport-loving youth from all over the globe. We are made up of members of the refugee and migrant communities that have recently arrived to Nottingham and consider this city their second home. The Club was founded because we thought there was a need to create a positive environment for these young people so that they could develop themselves, learn new life skills and eventually make a positive impact on those who are around them, especially the local host community. We run football training sessions for all age group twice a week at the Forest sports Zone."

We will be providing updates on Red Sea FC's progress on our social media channels and website in the coming months.